MOT advisory Items

[Neilosdenning]

Hi all

I have a 2006 Porsche Cayman S - great car and lots of fun

Following advice from PH regarding MOT test centres I successfully took the cayman to a local council run place. They were great and fast and passed the car - good news.

One thing of note was in the advisory items

- nearside front track rod end ball joint has slight play

Can anyone decipher this? Something I should nip in the bud? Expensive to fix? I was in a rush for another appointment so didn't ask the tester

If it is something that keeps a wheel on the car I would think I should just get it looked at rather than maybe watching a wheel drop off while I spin around on the motorway at 99.9 mph

Thanks in advance

Neil

[Ozzie Osmond]

Your steering rack is attached to each front wheel by a track rod end with a ball joint. Over time the joint can wear and get a bit loose but the joint is still safely contained. At MOT test the tester will use his hands to check for any movement in the joint which should not be there.

In other words, they get a bit loose a long time before they become unsafe. If you've just passed an MOT with a reputable tester there's nothing to panic about. But you'll need it sorted sooner or later because it's only going to get worse. Not a difficult thing to replace.

[graemel]

Advisorys have to be done prior to the next MOT, so that in theory gives you a year. Personally I would get it done sooner rather than later. Should not be an expensive fix

[thegoose]

graemel said:

Advisorys have to be done prior to the next MOT, so that in theory gives you a year. Personally I would get it done sooner rather than later. Should not be an expensive fix

They don't have to be done by the next test, although it's reasonable to suggest that the reason they're there is because there's an expectation that they might not last until the next test. I've had cars a few times with the same advisories year after year.

[edc]

Advisories don't necessarily need to be addressed at all. For several years I had an advisory of a chip in the windscreen, repaired but still visible, but outside of the swept testable area.

[edc]

if it's a track rod end that needs replacing then a TRW part is circa £30.

[Neilosdenning]

Ouch!

Quote below from respected Porsche garage:

The inner steering joint is the usual failure but recommend doing as pair and also doing outer ball joint as then need to do a wheel alignment

Inner joint £ 60.22 each + vat
Outer arm £ 55.66 each + vat

Labour 2hrs £ 120 + vat

Wheel alignment £ 200 + vat

Total £ 662.11 inc vat

Would need to confirm mot advisory as can do just inner or outer & can do just one side but still need to do wheel alignment and then will possibly have to do other side in the near future.

[ORD]

"Dead fly on the windscreen, Sir? That'll be a fair few hours of taking it off the screen, cleaning the screen and so on. We'll also have to carry out a check on the gearbox and replace the clutch, just to be sure, you know?. About £1000 is the best price we can do, if you want it done properly"

[edc]

I think you will find that those parts are availbale as aftermarket TRW with the Porsche logo ground off for about half that price on ebay.

• edit* just noticed that I had already noted the parts prices previously!

[Orangecurry]

Neilosdenning said:

Ouch!

Quote below from respected Porsche garage:

The inner steering joint is the usual failure but recommend doing as pair and also doing outer ball joint as then need to do a wheel alignment

Inner joint £ 60.22 each + vat
Outer arm £ 55.66 each + vat

Labour 2hrs £ 120 + vat

Wheel alignment £ 200 + vat

Total £ 662.11 inc vat

Would need to confirm mot advisory as can do just inner or outer & can do just one side but still need to do wheel alignment and then will possibly have to do other side in the near future.

Respected

1) I would monitor tyre wear and make a judgement in a few months time. Run your flat hand around the tyre tread pattern. If you can feel any feathering on both front tyres, the GEO is out anyway. If you can feel feathering only on that tyre, you should replace the part-that-has-movement before you have to replace the tyre.

2) Any monkey can replace a track-rod end or whatever specific part it is.

3) I replaced one side TRE on my car in Feb 2011 post-MOT, and the other side is still absolutely fine.

The critical thing is to get someone who knows what they are doing to do the GEO afterwards, and that ISN'T a tyre fitting bay, or even a 'well respected' Porsche specialist.

Get a recommendation (on here) on who can do a good GEO for you.

Summary - I wouldn't do anything yet.

Disclaimer: You do what you want to do - this is what I would do.

Edited by Orangecurry on Monday 3rd February 15:20

[arfur daley]

Just looking at a range rover on ebay and found this advisory on the mot history:Advisory Notice issued

Front brake disc slightly pitted (3.5.1h)

Excessive air freshners to interior

what the fk?

[magpie215]

arfur daley said:

Just looking at a range rover on ebay and found this advisory on the mot history:Advisory Notice issued

Front brake disc slightly pitted (3.5.1h)

Excessive air freshners to interior

what the fk?

probably loads hanging off different windows and rear view mirror obscuring vision.

[ianwayne]

Possibly a little joke between the tester and the owner. Being a Range Rover, perhaps he was covering up the smell of wet dog, or other animals...

[Moog72]

£240 for doing the tracking / wheel alignment!!? You have got to be joking, find a good independent place that can do the full 4 wheel alignment service and they won't charge anything like that